Conserva is staying right where he’s been since the hit TV show, “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” debuted in 2000.

Conserva may not have the name recognition that an actor like Fishburne does, but the Suffield native has made a name for himself in the TV industry.

Conserva has had a prominent role in producing “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” one of television’s most successful crime drama series, since it first went on the air 11 years ago. “CSI” is due to return for its 12th season on CBS this fall, and continues its ranking among the 20 top-rated shows.

Conserva grew up on a farm, the son of a horse veterinarian who still practices on Ratley Road in the village of West Suffield.

At the age of 12, he visited his uncle, James C. Hart, who has worked as a producer and director on many hit television series including “Chicago Hope,” “L.A. Law,” “The Wonder Years,” and “Hill Street Blues.” That’s when Conserva developed an interest in the TV industry.

Following his graduation from the Watkinson School in Hartford, Conserva attended Roanoke College in Virginia, where he had the opportunity to do a short internship on “Chicago Hope,” and another on “The Simpsons.”

Marg Helgenberg and Laurence Fishburne in a publicity photo for the TV series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." (CBS photo)

“I worked with the production assistants, and did everything from putting together the scripts to distributing them; whatever needed to be done,” Conserva said. “It immerses you in every aspect of production. It’s pretty much the only place to start to get a full perspective on how production is done.”

The experience was invaluable, Conserva says today. He worked for free and absorbed everything he could. He never looked back.

“I got a call that they wanted to bring me on for a year that next year, and I started (‘Chicago Hope’) in its second season,” Conserva said.

Conserva, who has now been with “CSI” since serving as an associate producer for the pilot episode, does mainly post-production work. Post-production consists of handling the film from the moment it is shot to getting it on TV.

“It’s getting it to the lab, getting to the editor to getting it on the air,” he said. “There’s video assembly and color correction, visual effects, finalizing the picture and the sound. It’s a lot of fun because what post-production is about is making it look and sound great.”

Conserva says he’s proud to be part of such an influential television series.

“We raised the bar from what the television production and experience was,” he said. “We put more of a cinema look and sound to the show. We were producing mini-movies, not so much producing TV episodes.”

When he reflects back on when he came to the realization that he wanted to work in television, Conserva said he simply decided to branch off from his chosen path of communications in college.

“Everyone (in college) was focused on publishing, poetry, short stories or novels or literary analysis projects, and I thought, ‘No, I’m going to go to everyone’s living room,’” he said. “And, that’s where I am, and I’m enjoying it.”

Conserva said in addition to “CSI,” he has a couple of other projects in the works, which he says are interactive, multi-media based projects in the early stages of development.